Milkweed is one of the best plants to have in your pollinator habitat - Conservation Blueprint's Pete Berthelsen shows you how to grow your own milkweed from seeds.
Cold-stratification (storage in temperatures below freezing) for at least 45-days will enable higher germination rates. Showy Milkweed is a hardy forb that is now being utilized in western U.S. ecotypes to out-compete cheatgrass and improve pollinator success, with yearly production estimated to be around 2,000#'s of seed. It would be nice for other regions of the U.S. to match those efforts...hint hint...:-)
I get germination in 3 days using a zip lock bag with my seeds in soil barely covered. Just did 50 seeds and all of them germinated. I've tried it several ways but this is the fastest I find.
I have been looking for the best video to explain how to plant milkweed seeds. And you have the best video I have found. I do have a green thumb so this should be great! Thanks
I would like to know how to make it grow faster, and more close ups on the small plant the leafs so I can get to see growing stages of first months. Thankyou⚘🐞🐝😊
Where did you get that cone-tainer dibber? (Dabbler?) I use the red solo cups for my milkweed all the time, much cheaper than buying 4” garden pots. 👍 Great tips, thanks. 🍯🐝 MikeTheBeeGuy 🐝👨🚀
I live in Oklahoma, I water them twice a day as adult plant they start to dry up, the younger plant I planted just got thinner and thinner then disappeared. I wonder why they do that? Should I put moss on the soil?
I would suggest that you make sure you have a milkweed species that normally grows in your area. Selecting a species adapted to your area should help with this situation.
Where do I get Milkweed plants with or without roots? In my Garden I collected about 30 Monarch eggs/ 1st instars , but I know later when they will eat a lot I will NOT have enough food for them. Please help!
You'll need to put out a local area request for someone who will have milkweed you can use. Be sure it's pesticide /herbacide free. You'll need a lot but not right away since you have eggs. You can also drive around and see if you can find some on side roads and fields, making sure you're getting an OK from wherever you find it.
Mike or Lisa has good advice and you should do that. I would hesitate collecting any more until you feel like you can feed that many. I have to assume that you already have milkweed or you wouldn't have eggs so hopefully your milkweed will continue to shoot up new sprouts. Last year we maybe had 60 or so caterpillars at any one time and it just got to be a huge chore getting milkweed several times a week. Like 3 or 4 shoe boxes full per week. We were lucky that there is a nearby off ramp with tons of milkweed. We would have had a hard time feeding that many without that resource. MrLundScience here on youtube is a really good resource for advice on raising monarchs. But you gotta find that milkweed stat. Good luck!
I wish I could put plants outside so they grow after growing to 6 inches but if I do all the monarchs come out in the spring - fall times and immediately lay a jillion eggs on it and the milkweed never has a chance to grow :/
Yes, Monarchs are very fond of laying on the tiniest plants for a tender meal out of the fray for their caterpillars. Larger blooming plants are busy places for caterpillar predators, mainly vespid wasps
I don't get it -- you didn't do cold stratification, which is recommended for milkweed in the U.S. Not great to present yourself as an expert when you're using unorthodox methods that are known to not give optimal results.
No you don't need any stratification, see this video where a science teacher proves it wrong. RU-vid Raising Monarchs - Seed Scarification Experiment (Help The Monarch Butterfly) MrLundScience
